Vertical axis food grinder or comminutor



E. v. TAYLOR 2,495,948

VERTICAL AXIS FOOD GRINDER OR COMMINUTOR 4 Sheets-Sheet 1 Jan. 31, 1950 Filed June 12, 1946 INVENTOR. EUGENE v. TAVLUR km I ATTURNEYS-S Jan. 31, 1%50 E. v. TAYLOR 2,495,948

VERTICAL AXIS FOOD GRINDER OR COMMINUTOR Filed June 12, 1946 4 Sheets-Sheet 2 aid.

IN VEN TOR.

EUGENE It TAYLDR.

A 7'10 ENE vs mi 1w hm, 31, WU E. v. TAYLOR 2,493

VERTICAL AXIS FOOD GRINDER OR CQMMINUTOR Filed June 12, 1946 4 Sheets-Sheet I5 INVENTOR. EU: ENE M I A TTORNEYS.

L 19% E. v. TAYLOR 9534 VERTICAL AXIS FOOD GRINDER OR COMMINUTOR Filed June 12, 1946 4 Sheets-Sheet 4 I N V EN TOR. E 7:4 W.

A TTOIE'NE VS.

Patented Jan. 31, 1950 UNITED PATE NT GF'FITCE VERTIGALAXISFOOD GR-I NBER on r *GQMMINUTOR Eugene v; Taylor, Chicago, 111.

- Application J'unelZ, 194.6,Seria-1N0x676304 1 2 Claims. (01. tie-1'92") My invention relatesgenerally to food processing apparatus and more particularly to food processing apparatus which is adapted for comminution of various materials to produceioods or food products.

Devices for grinding or comminuting food such as meat and vegetables haveilong been imuse in homes and restaurantsr- Suchdevices afford a ready means'ror putting in useful-and palatable formwscraps of meat andleft-over-vegetables which either are notoonsidered presentable in their left-over form or are' difiicult to masticate because of theirstringy or toughstructure. A common type of such device has been sold-for many years and comprises aframe;- which ris:.securable to the 'edge'of a table or shelf'fihaving anintegral L-shaped hopper supporting! a hor'izontally positioned rotatable worm for moving the food toward a die at theend ofthe horizontal of the'hopper; The shaft of the worm-extendsin opposite directions, one end" passing" through a:

vertical wall of the hopper and b'eingiebhhected with a handle and the other endwpassingthi'ough 1 vthe flie andzbeine secured to acutting-element which ispositionedadiacent'the die. One serious defect with such :-agrinding or chopping .device is that the food be con tinuously pressed downinto theifiorm by the fin? gers." Frequentlythe 1 fingers *get pinched "or out 1 While pressing the food into the rdtatiiigiworm. It is-i-an 'object of my inventionto provide afoodprocessing device'vlh'ieh ddesnot requirethe use of'the fingers or of a wormfor'directihgthe food toward the die and cutting element.

Another defect with said comii'i'ontypebf grinding'device is that its grinding" capacity is-limited by the worm which is actually'a'n obstructionin Pieces of food over a certain size cannot be' handled by the worm." In rhymm the hopper.

of food processing apparaatus "this -dificu1ty is entirely avoided since I employ'no-worm-or aim ilar-element which would obstruct the hopper.

The common form of food gririderpr ohopper also lacks flexibility inanotherrespeot;-narne1y,, in its inability to perform any other thana grind ing oi-chopping action. It is an-object of my invention to provideinterchangeable parts which will; for example, scrape or shavepieces of foodor will extract and strain juice fromdmits and vegetables. I In this connection itis a furtheradvantagecof my invention that stheimeansifor impelling the foodthrough the hopper maybe em-l played without the necessity for rotating any cutting sor scraping memberhforaexampieii when extracting the "juice .from iruits or vegetables: i

Another advantage of my invention resides in the use of a geared drive-for dthe rotating cut ting-member wherebysufiicient force may tie-p110? vided for cutting even the toughest'formsof toad:

with-the least exertion by the operatorlfl :It isanother object of invention that the earing tor the geared drive-may: be supported by, and at least-partially housed by; the foodhopper externally of the throat of -the hoppern "Itfis still food f line" processing 2 apparatus taken sori-the plane I-i or- Figure' z' aha's iowing'ehesamio ingeIethe food h'oppe'rj -'-'con-iniinutingma'1is' no the geareecrimemansniereror; I

Figuifi is a" plain View of th rot ataiilf -cutter orcoinni'iniiting maa-;-dr igure 11;

Figure 4 is a plan 'view' o f the face-presto plate of Figure 1;

r -ar s "aver-noel, ections-1 viewh'f'ainotiier form of roec presser mmber;

Fi ur 6 'is' t rtie'ai se tional view offer different form of-rotatable conihiinutirig 'mans{which is;

em ioyea witli'the rooc iares'ser memtr 61" :Fig-" mere 8' 15a vertical; se mingl v e taken on the plane or line use: Figure .10, or a form of rotatable commenting insane which is" employed with the food pressen inerriberlof Figure 7; V

Figure 9 is a plan victim-dockingzfrom the dine 9+9--oi Figure Tin-the direction ofthe arrows,

of the form of food presser member shown in Figure 7;

Figure 10 is a plan view, looking from the line |9|9 of Figure 8 in the direction of the arrows, of the form of rotatable comminuting means shown in Figure 8;

Figure 11 is a vertical, sectional view of a modified form of the rotatable comminuting means, geared drive and supports therefor; and

Figure 12 is a vertical sectional View of another modified form of rotatable comminuting means, geared drive and supports therefor.

Like reference numerals are employed for the same elements in theseveral views.

Referring now to Figures 1 through 4 of the drawings, the reference numeral l refers generally to the C-shaped supporting stand or frame of my food processing apparatus, which stand may be secured to a table, bench or shelf (not shown) by suitable fastening means such as screws 3 which pass through holes in the base or pedestal 5. The base 5 includes a platform 1 for supporting a bowl or other receptacle 9 (shown in dotted lines) beneath the food hopper which is indicated generally by the reference numeral Anupright arm l3 extends from the base 5 of the supporting stand I and is curved at its upper end as at l5 so as to terminate directly above the central axis of the food hopper At the terminal end of" the upright arm l3 there is formed avertical'cylindrical passageway H which serves as a guide for a vertically movable shaft or plunger l9. At the upper end of shaft l9 there are'formed teeth 2| so that the shaft constitutes a rack which. cooperates with the teeth 23 formed intermediate the ends of a short shaft 25 which is-mounted for rotation in the bore of the cylindrical extension 21 formed integrally with the upright .arm l3. As will be readily seen, the bore of the extension 21 and the vertical guide passageway: ll intersect to permit the meshing of teeth 2| with teeth 23. A double ended lever or handle 291s connected at the end of shaft 25 to p ermit'the operator to obtain leverage in rotatii'giglgthe shaft 25 for raising or lowering the shaft or plunger l9. If no leverage is needed in maipulating shaft |9,-a's would especially be the case when-itis lifted from itslowered position, the'pp erator-may raise said shaft by'gripping the knob "3| which is' secured to the upper end of ll-lby means of a pin 33. The knob 3| also the extent of downward movement of shaft It", as is apparent. It will be seen that the short shaft 25 is maintained in-extension 21 against axial displacement by a set screw which is threaded through the extension 21 and protrudes into a groove 31 in the shaft 25.

The hopper H is secured by an integral flange 39 to a.midportion of the upright arm l3 of the supporting stand I by: means of screws 4| which pass ,through holes in the flange and are threaded intosockets 42in the arm |3. The flange 39 has an up er rim isv which seats on a ledge 45 of the upright arm I3, the rim and ledge cooperating to locate the hopper vertically when it is being secured to the arm |3 and also serving along with thescrew's 4i to'prevent downward movement of the hopper hopper to the supporting stand I is merely by way of example for other means for securing the two elements together may be employed such as that illustrated in my application Serial No. 656,322 filed March 22, 1946, which became Patent No. 2,439,028 on April 6, 1948.

The throat of the hopper H is circular and is This manner of fastening the defined by wall 41 which has a flange 49 with an integral depending wall 5| which is concentric with and spaced from the wall 41. Wall 5| extends below the end of wall 41 and is there internally threaded as shown at 53. Positioned between the walls 41 and 5| is a ring gear 55 having teeth 51. The teeth 51 mesh with the threads 59 of the worm gear 5| which is secured by a pin 63 to a shaft 65. A pair of diametrically opposite downwardly extending lugs 61 on the ring gear 55 seat in notches 69 (see Figures 1 and 3) of a rotatable cutting disk indicated generally at 1 I.

The cutting or comminuting disk 1| is secured in place att'he'lower end of the hopper II by a ring 13 which is externally threaded and thereby secured in the lowermost end of the depending wall 5|. Ring 13 has a flange 14 and lugs 15 on the lower edge of the ring, which lugs facilitate the turning of ring 13 to thread or unthread it from wall 5|. The upper surface of ring 13 serves as a bearing surface for the rotatable cutting disk 1| and said disk 1| at its upper surface engages the lower surface of a die 15 and helps retain the die against axial movement.

The die 15 is circular except for two diametrically opposite radially extending lugs 11 which seat in notches 18 in the lower end of wall 41 of the hopper The engagement of the lugs 11 in the notches prevents rotation of the die. There are a series of holes 19 of different sizes through the die 15 through which holes the food in hopper may be impelled. As the food is impelled through the die it comes to a rotatable cutting disk 1| which has a series of different sized holes 8|. The holes 8| have had their sides beveled as at 82 so as to form a cutting edge at the upper surface of each hole. It will be noted that the pattern of holes 19 in the die 15 and holes 8| in the cutting disk 1| do not entirely coincide. However, for any position of the rotatable cutting disk 1| there will be some of its" holes 8|, or portions of said holes, which coincide with the holes 19 of the die 15. Consequently, food being impelled through the holes 19 of the die 15 will pass out through certain coinciding holes 8| of disk 1| and, as the disk is rotated, the extruded food will be sliced off as the coinciding holes 8| pass to a closed or non-coinciding portion of the die 15. As said holes pass to a closed portion of the die other holes 8| of the rotating cutting disk 1| will comeinto coincidence with the holes 19 in die 15. ;As a result there will be a continuous passage of foodthrough the die and a continuous cutting off of said food by the disk 1| so long as the food con-- tinuesto be impelled through the die.

,The impelling of the food toward and through the die is caused by actuation of the double ended:-

lever or handle 29. Depending upon the direcaway fromor toward the hopper ll.

9|. Projection 9| transversely extending key 93 which is adapted to; fit into a correspondingly shaped channel or slot 95 in the lower end of shaft l9.

Such connection can only be made bymovement of thepresser plate in a direction at right angles to its normal direction of movement in the hopper andconsequently the connection can only be con surnniated when the shaft |9 is-raised upwardly 5 and outof the hopper ll. gagedintheslot es the-presser plate 63 is locked against axial separation from shaft l9. To prevent inadvertent transverse movement of the presser plate 33 relative to the shaft IS with consequent disengagement of the key 93 from the slot as, a locking collar 9? is employed. Collar 9i is slidable along the shaft i 9 andis controlled in its movement by an L-shaped slot 95 formed in the collar and a cooperating pin IllI fastened in shaft 59 and protruding into slot 99. With the collar Fl? in the position illustrated in Figure 1, the lower end of said collar covers the intersection of the key 83 and slot 95. When the collar 9! is lifted up and turned so that the pin Iil'I is in the horizontal arm of L-shaped slot 99, the lower end. of the collar is above the'intersection of key 33 and the slot 95. The collar is retained in this position by virtue of the engagement of the pin ill! in the horizontal arm of slot 99. At such tizne the presser plate 83 may be disconnected from shaft I9 by sidewise movement of the plate and its key 513 relative to the shaft I9 and its slot 85, assuming that the presser plate has been raised up and out of the hopper I I. This form of connection of the presser plate to the shaft l9 permits easy substitution of one form of presser plate for another as will be more fully described hereinafter.

Unlikethe common type of food grinder which employs a worm for impelling the food to the die and leaves a large untreated portion of food in the grooveof the worm, my form of food processing apparatus with its flat surfaced presser plate 83 presses substantially all of the food in the hopper into the die it and the only untreated portion of food is the small amount in the holes of the die itself.

As noted above, the-means for driving the rotatable. cutting disk ll comprises an annular ring gear 55. which has lugs 5i engaging in notches 69 of the ll. The teeth er on the ring gear 55 mesh with the worm El which is secured on shaft A housing Hi3 for the worm Bl provides bearings and Nil at its opposite sides for the. shaft Washers Iill and HI are positioned about the shaft 655 and are interposed between the 'worrn 5i and the end walls of the housing 2%. Housing IE3 is adapted to enclose an opening in the depending wall 5i of. the hopper ii and issecured to said dependingwall 5! by screws H3 which pass through holes in the housing 533 and are threaded into the depending Wall 5}. A projecting portion H5 (see Figure 1) of the housing tilt fits into an annular groove I H in theannular ring gear 55 and serves to retain the ring gear 55 from dropping out from between the walls t? and til of the hopper Il when the annular ring '53 and the rotatable cutting disk 'i'I araremovedfrom the lower end of the hopper H. To drive the shaft 55 on which the worm 6| is secured I affix a crank arm or handle I I9 to one end of shaft 65 by means of a pin I2I. A swivel knob 923 is secured to the outer end of the crank arm I it.

The ease with which my food processing apparatus may be assembled or disassembled for cleaning, lubrication or repair will become apparent from the following description. If the ap-' paratus comes disassembled when purchased, the hopper. It is first secured to the upright arm E3 of the support I by the screws M which are threaded through .the flange 39 of hopper H and into the sockets $2 in the arm I3. The matching of the holes in fiange iiil with the threaded sockets When the key 93is en- 6. in-the arm l3tismade easy because therrim43- of the flange 39.1 iszfirst positioned. upon the ledge 45 0f the arm I3. This' locates thej hopper vertically with: respect toxthe 'arm i3 and it is then only necessaryto shift the hopper I I sidc-.

wise to match the holes-in theflange 39 with the threadedlsockets42in. the arm I3. 3 Annular ring gear isthen inserte'cl betweenthe walls Hand Bloof the hopper II; The housing Mid -which carriesvthe worm: 6I-and shaft 65 :is then positioned'againstthe 'side of the hopperin such a manner as to engage the threadsSBWith-the teeth 5'! of the ring gear 55 while at the same time positioning the extension I I5 on the housing I03 in'the annular groove III of the ring gear 55. Thescrews H3 are then' passed through: holes in the housing I83 and are threaded into sockets in the depending Wall 5i of hopperll I. Crank handle H9 is then securedto the end of shaft 65 by means of the 'pin MI. The die I5 is next inserted at the lowerend of hopper I I with its lugs being positioned 'in' the notches 78 at the lower end of the wall 41 and immediately beneath said die I5 isinserted therotatable cutting disk H l which is positioned with its notches 8S in engagement with the lugsGI! depending from the ring gear 55. Annular-ring I3 is then threaded upwarolly until its flange I4 engages the-lowermost end of the depending Wall 5|. At" this time the rotatablecutting disklll'is accurately positioned with respect to the-die (Sand the ring gear 55.

Shaft I9 maythen be inserted through the guide passageway'I'I which is formed at the uppermost end of arm I39 shaft flfi which is connected'to the double armed lever or handle 29 and which-has the gear teeth 23, is then slid into the bore of projection 21 so as to mesh its gear teeth- 23 withthe teeth 2! on the rack portion of shaft I9.. The set screw 354s then threaded through the projection 21 into the groove 3? which is formed in shaft 25 in order to retain said shaft in the bore of projection 21. Collar 91 on shaft 19 is then raised as far as the pinI Ill in slot 99 will permit and is rotated so that the pin passes into the horizontal arm of the L-shaped-slotil to retain the collarin its elevated position." When the shaft I Qis then movedupwardly to a position whereits lower end is somewhat above the upper edgeof'hopper II, the presser plate 83 may thenbe connected with the shaft I9by inserting the key 93 of the presser plate 33 in the slot 95 formed in the lower end of shaft 19. When the projection SI which bears the key 93 is positioned in axial alignment with the shaft I 9, the locking collar 91 on shaft I9 is then rotated and permitted to move to its'lowermost position, asshown in Figure 1",to lock the presser plate 83 inengagement with the shaft I9.

In emplo'ying'the-fo'od processing apparatus the operator will place a receptacle on the platform tor the base 5 immediatelybeneath the'hopper I I and will then raise theshaft I9 either by gripping it by the knob 33 or bycranking it upwardly by the handle 29. The food to beprocessed will then be inserted into'the hopper I and the shaft I9 will then'be cranked downwardly by the handle 29 in orderto press the food toward the die IE3 at the lower end of the hopper II. Simultaneously the operator will rotate the crank arm H9 to thereby cause rotation of the rotatable cutting disk TI and, as the foodis pressed downwardly by the presser plate 83 through the die 15 into contact with the cutting disk H, the food will be comminuted and will drop into the recepta'cle beneath the hopper, 1 1 It willbe readily ap- 7 parent that the operator may vary the'relative speed of the downward movement of the presser plate and the rotating movement of the cutting disk H in order to vary the size of the comminuted food particles. If larger food particles are desired the presser plate 83 will be urged downwardly at a greater speed than usual or the crank arm H9 for driving the rotatable cutting disk H will be rotated more slowly than usual. This will permit food to'be extruded through the die and through the holes in the cutting diskf'H for a longer period before being sliced off by the cutting disk.

It will be readily apparent that in place of the crank arm H9 for driving the gearing and rotatable cutting disk H, there may be substituted a pulley wheel or gear for connecting the shaft 65 with the shaft of a power driven mechanism, such as an electric motor, which could also be supported by the stand 1.

In addition to being able to provide food particles of varying size my food processing apparatus has the additional advantage of being adaptable to the processing of a variety of food in a variety of manners. This adaptability is due to the interchangeability of food presser members and rotatable cutting members. Referring now to Figures 5 and 6 there will been seen a food presser member 83a which is formed with an internal curved surface 85a and which has a diameter substantially equal to the internal diameter of the hopper l 4. An axial projection 9 la formed integrally with the presser member 83a bears a key 9311 of the same configuration as the key 93 of presser plate 83 in Figure 1. When shaft i9 is elevated to raise the presser plate 83 of Figure 1 from the hopper I! said presser plate 83 may be unlocked from the shaft I9 by manipulation of the locking collar 91 as earlier described and the presser member 83a may be substituted for the presser plate 83 by inserting the key 93a in the slot 55 at the lower end of shaft l9 and thereafter looking it in place by lowering the locking collar 91. At this time the operator will also unthread the annular ring 13 by gripping it by its lugs l6. As the ring 13 is unthreaded the rotatable cutting disk 'H and the die 15 will drop down with it and may be removed. The rotatable member Ha of Figure 6 may then be inserted in place of disk H with its convex surface upward until the notches 59a engage the depending lugs 6'! on the ring gear 55. Ring 13 will then be threaded back in place into the lower end of the hopper to position the rotatable member He in proper relation with respect to the ring gear 55. The upper surface of ring 73 will form the bearing surface for the member Ha.

Rotatable member Tia is formed with a curved surface i complementary to surface 85 of presser member 83a and has ridges I21 formed on the upward convex side. Holes 81a are formed through the curved surface and also through the periphery of the member. The presser member 83a and rotatable member Ha of Figures 5 and 6, respectively, are particularly adapted for removing the juice from fruit such as oranges or lemons which have been halved. The operator will raise the shaft i5 and presser member 53a connected therewith from the hopper H and will then insert a halved orange with its-convex surface upward and thereafter will lower the presser member 83a to thereby cause the halved orange to be pressed down over the rotatable member lid to press the juice from the orange. If the operator so desires he may simultaneously rog. tate the member Ha and its ridges 12! will grind against the interior of the orange to further remove the juice and also to divide the pulp, the juice and pulp passing readily through the holes the and dropping into a receptacle below the hopper ll. As is apparent the orange may be juiced merely by pressing it against the member l'la without rotating said member by turning of the crank arm !9.

Referring now to Figures '7 through 10 there will be seen another form of presser member 83b in the form of an inverted cone with ridges I29 which are triangular in cross-section. An axially extending projection 9|b formed integrally with the presser member 83b carries at its upper end a key 93b which is adapted to fit within the correspondingly shaped slot of shaft 15 of Figure 1. The diameter of the presser member 835 is substantially the same as the inside diameter of the hopper ll. 'ilb shown in Figures 8 and 10 is also formed in the shape of an inverted cone and corresponds in configuration to the cone of the presser member 8313 of Figures 7 and 9. Four slots 81b are formed in the rotatable cutting member Nb and said slots have their edges beveled as at 82b to form a cutting edge at the upper side of the slots. In the manner described above with respect to Figures 5 and 6 the presser member 83b of Figures 7 and 9 and the rotatable cutting member of Figures 8 and 10 may be substituted for the presser plate 83 and the rotatable cutting disk ll, respectively, of Figure 1. lowers the shaft l9 carrying the presser member r 8311 and rotates the cutting member N5 the food within the hopper will be scraped or shaved off by the slots 5th of the rotatable cutting mem-- ber lib.

In Figure 11 is shown a modification of the geared drive and housing therefor and alsoa modification of the means for securing the presser late to the shaft which supports it. Reference numeral 2! 2 indicates the hopper generally, which hopper has a flanged portion 249 which is I expanded as at 250 to form a portion of a housing and a portion of a bearing for the stub shaft 255 which is formed integrally with the crank handle 255. The wall 2 3? of the hoper 2| I is slightly reduced in diameter at its outer, lower end, as at 2%, to form a beveled shoulder 252 for positioning a ring gear 255. Ring gear 255 is maintained in position by the beveled shoulder 252; also by a flange 256 formed at the lower end of a depend-v ing wall 25! which is secured to the flange 249 on the hopper 2 by screws 258. Depending lugs 261 formed on the ring gear 255 are adapted to fit into holes 258 on opposite sides of the rotatable cutting disk 2H. pinion 28! which is drivingly connected with the .zrugiared end 256 of stub shaft 265 on crank handle Positioned immediately above the cutting disk 2' is a die 2'15 which is prevented from rotating by lugs 216 which are seated in notches 218 formed in the lower end of the hopper 2| I. An internally threaded ring 273 has a stepped flange 214, one step 280 being adapted to abut against the lower surface of the depending wall 25! and the other step 282 being adapted to support the periphery of the rotatable cutting disk 2' when the annular ring 213 is threaded on to the lower end of Wall 251. Depending lugs 284 are formed at the lower edge of the ring 213 to make easy the turning of the ring.

It will be seen that depending wall 25| forms.

The rotatable cutting member As the operator Ring gear 255 meshes with apending. wall is secured. to the flange 249 of hopper 2i 1. At such time the crank handle 2H) teeth on the rotatable .cuttingwdisk 31! and said gear is secured to thecreduced end 352 of a stub l shaft 3.35 bymeans of -atapered pin 333 which 1 passes through aligned bores in the gear 3N and cannot become disengaged, by reason. of an integralfiange 264 which seats in complementary recesses in the flange .249 and depending wall 25L .5

Presser plate 283 is secured to the shaft 2l9'by means-of a set screw 22L which may bethreaded into an annular groove 222 on the axial projection 29! of the pressenplate 283 when said projection 29| is inserted in the socket 223 at the lower, end of shaft 2 l 9.

In assembling the geared drive mechanism with the hopper and rotatable cutting disk of Figure 11 th operator will first insert the pinion. 25! and associated shaft 265 "on handle 2l9 in place beneath the flange 249 and will then place beneath the shaft 265 and the flange 249 the depending wall 25! with the ring gear 255 already seated upon the flange 253 of said depending wall. The screws 258 will then be inserted through the flange 249 and threaded into the sockets in the depending wall 25l. There will then be provided a housing for the ring gear 255 and the pinion 26L as well as a bearing for the shaft 235. The die 215 may then be positioned with its lugs 216 engaging in the notches 218 at the lower end of the hopper 2H and the rotatable cutting disk may be positioned beneath it with its holes 268 surrounding the dependin lugs 231 of the ring gear 255. The ring 213 is then threaded upon the lower end of depending wall 25i until the step 280 on flange 214 of ring 213 abuts against the lower surface of wall 25!. Rotatable cutting disk 21! then finds its bearing upon the step 282 of flange 21 i. Rotation of the crank arm 2E9 will then serve to drive the disk 21!.

It will be readily seen that removal of the ring 213 will permit the substitution of different forms of rotatable cutting members in place of the cutting disk 21]. Such substituted cutting members may take the form of the devices illustrated in Figure 6 and Figure 8, for example.

In Figure 12 there is illustrated another form of geared drive and housing therefor. Th hopper indicated generally at 3H has an integral flange 349 connected to the Wall 331, which flange encircles a portion of the circumference of said wall. An integral depending wall 35l connected with said flange 339 and spaced from the wall 341 joins a flange 352 formed at the lower end of the hopper 3! l. Extending downwardly from flange 352 is a short wall 353 which is internally threaded. A die 315, similar to the dies of Figures 1 and 11, is positioned at the lower end of the hopper 3!! with its lugs 316 extending into the notches 318 formed at the lower end of wall 341 of the hopper 3i i Immediately below the die 315 is positioned a rotatable cutting disk 31;. This disk is thicker than the cutting disk illustrated in Figures 1 and 11 in order to provid material at its periphery for forming integral teeth 351 so that the cutting disk 31! may also serve as a ring gear. The rotatable cutting disk 311 is positioned in proper relation to the die 315 by a ring 313 which is threaded into the end of wall 353 until the flange 314 on the ring 313 abuts against the lower-most end of the wall 353. Lugs 384 are formed integrally with the flange 314 to provide means for readily gripping the ring 313 to rotate it.

A gear wheel 36! positioned between the walls 341 and 35! of the hopper 3H meshes with the the reduced end 362 of shaft 365; A crank handle 319 is integrally connected with the shaft 335 to permit turning thereof by the hand of the operator. The bearing'for the shaft 353 consists of a cylindrical sleeve. 39!] whichis carried in acylindrical extension 39l =formed integrally with the depending wall 35L The shaft 335 is prevented from shifting axially in one direction by reason of a flange392 at thejunction of the shaft 365 and crank arm 3|9, which flange bears against the outer edge of extension 331, and the shaft is prevented from moving axially in the other direction ,by the gear 36| which bears against the inner surface of wall 35l.'

In assembling the apparatus illustrated in Figure 12 the gear 36 l is first insertedbetween the walls 341 and 35! of hopper 3H and. then the reduced end 362 of shaft 365 on crank arm 319 is inserted through the center of the gear in such a fashion that the pin 363 may be inserted through the bores of the reduced end 362 and the gear 3!. The die 315 is then positioned at the lower end of the hopper 3i i with its lugs 31E positioned in the notches 318 of the wall 341. The rotatable cutting disk 31! is then positioned immediately below the die 315 in such a manner that its gear teeth 351 mesh with the teeth on gear 36!. The ring 313 is then threaded into the lower end of wall 353 until its flange 31d abuts the lowermost edge of the wall 353. At this time the rotatable cutting disk 31! is properly positioned relative to the die 315 and will find its bearing on the top surface of the ring 313.

It will be understood that the rotatable cutting disk 31l of Figure 12 may be replaced by rotatable members similar to those illustrated in Figure 6 and 8 which members would then be formed with integral gear teeth similar to the gear teeth 351 of disk 31 I.

Although preferred embodiments and modes of r operation of my invention have been illustrated above, I do not intend to be limited to such structures, except in so far as the appended claims are so limited, since changes may be made in the above illustrated embodiments without departing from the scope of the invention which is defined in the following claims.

Iclaim:

1. In a food-processing device, in combination, a hopper for receiving food to be processed, means for impelling said food toward one end of the hopper, food comminuting means adjacent said one end of said hopper for operating on the food impelled toward it, said comminuting means including a rotatable member having openings therethrough, a flange on the outside of said hopper, driving means for said rotatable member, and a depending annular wall, connected with and removable from said flange, said wall being circiunferentially spaced from the hopper and serving to support the driving means for the rotatable member.

2. In a food-processing device, in combination, a hopper for receiving food to be processed, means for impelling said food toward one end of said hopper, food comminuting means adjacent said one end of said hopper for operating on the food impelled toward it, said comminuting means including a rotatable member having openings therethrough and a non-rotatable die, a flange on the outside of said hopper, driving means for said rotatable member, a depending annular wall connected with and removable'fro'm said flange, said wallbeing circumferentially spaced from the hopper and serving to support the driving means for the rotatable member, and an annular mem ber connected with the depending Wall for sup porting'the rotatable member and die, said annular member being removable whereby the ratatable member and die may be removed.

EUGENE V. TAYLOR.

REFERENCES CITED Thefollowlng references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Number Name Date Schilly Aug. 10, 1915 Zanvettor Jan. 1, 1918 Pursell Apr. 14, 1925 Schmidt Dec. 21, 1926 Dellinger Feb. 13, 1934 Rice July 31, 1934 Faulds Oct. 22, 1935 Berkman Feb. 1, 1938 MacI-Iaynes June 6, 1939 Bloomfield Dec. 19, 1939 Taylor Apr. 6, 19148 FOREIGN PATENTS Country Date Germany Oct. 30, 1920 Germany Feb. 17,1921 Germany Aug. 6, 1928 Italy Feb. 22, 1940 

